The Queen of the Tearling

OMG SO GOOD. Yeah, it's a swords-and-sorcery, Chosen One kind of thing, but the heroine is one of the most kick-assiscal women I've come across in a long time. Kelsea is the kind of heroine Sarah J. Maas was aiming towards, I think, in the horrible Throne of Glass, but Queen of the Tearling gets it all right. The supporting cast is very strong as well, and the plotting - wow. And the worldbuilding - holy moly. It seems like it's your standard faux-medieval secondary world, but every now and then the author drops a bombshell, just in passing, and WHUT. WHUT WAS THAT.